Bob Baker's The Buzz Factor

Music marketing ideas for DIY artists, managers, promoters and music biz pros

December 09, 2005

Vinyl Quality Making a Comeback?

According to a Wired magazine article titled "When Hi-Fi Meets the IPod," there's a growing discontent among audiophiles over the lower quality sound of MP3 files vs. the clearer and richer experience of music on CD and, yes ... even vinyl.

A majority of new releases are still printed on vinyl. And many of the same kids who illegally download music for free will actually purchase the LP because that quality can't be found anywhere else.

According to the RIAA, vinyl's percentage of overall sales doubled in 2004, grossing $110 million over 2000's $72 million. This growth came at a time when overall music sales dropped from $14.4 billion to $12.2 billion.

How you can use this trend to sell more music ...

Give away free MP3 downloads from the Web, and remind your fans of the higher quality experience they'll get when they purchase your CD (or vinyl record, if you dare.) This will work especially well, of course, if your music is intricate or textured or in some way sonically detailed.

So freely share your lower quality tracks for exposure, but sell the sizzle of owning the actual thing!

Good advice and I've been doing this myself, ie. giving away a track at MySpace that will be featured on vinyl in the near future. The feedback that I've received has been: "Great track, but I'd love to have this on vinyl."

I'm a DJ, and in "my world" vinyl is still considered unrivaled. The sound quality is just amazing and there are no tools that are better for mixing. Also, go to any DJ shop in London, Berlin etc. and one will find 90% vinyl, so as far as the DJ community is concerned, vinyl is as alive as ever.

YES YOU ARE CORRECT MP3'S ARE HIGHLY COMPRESSED AND DO NOT HAVE THAT BIG FEEL AND SOUND AS A CD AND EVEN BETTER VINYL. VINYL SELLS WILL CONTINUE TO RISE JUST BECAUSE IN THE HIP HOP/RAP INDUSTRY VINYL IS A MUST TO BREAK IN YOUR SINGLE. ALSO VINYL RELEASES HAVE SPECIAL REMIXES AND ACAPPELLAS FOR DJ'S AND MIXTAPE DJ'S, IT'S EXPLODING. WITH THE GROWTH OF MIXTAPE RELEASES MORE PEOPLE DEMAND VINYL!!! GOOD STUFF...

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What About Bob?

Bob Baker is an author, speaker, teacher, indie musician and former music magazine editor dedicated to showing musicians of all kinds how to get exposure, connect with fans, sell more music, and increase their incomes.